HOW OUR FEES WORK
Sometimes it can be difficult to understand
the way accreditation fees are broken down as well as what
you will be getting for your money. CAC has a unique fee
structure that helps to lower the costs for organizations
using our services. Unlike other accrediting bodies, CAC
charges the Accreditation Fee on the combined budget of
the PROGRAMS undergoing accreditation, not the overall
budget of the organization. We also provide electronic
copies of our Standards free of charge to any organization
that enquires. We provide some very special services that no other
accrediting body offers:
• We will come out to your site for half a day free of
charge to provide you with information and training
associated with the accreditation process
• We conduct a Pre-Site evaluation of the programs that are
being accredited two months before the actual On-Site,
giving you a chance to adjust any issues that may have been
found.
To demonstrate the way our system works please review the
example below of a fictitious organization, ABC Inc.
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To begin, ABC Inc.
is interested in using the services of CAC for their
accreditation. Someone from ABC Inc. would then
contact CAC and request an electronic copy of our
Standards, free of charge, to review before deciding
if CAC is a fit for them or not.
If ABC Inc. decides to use CAC, they would then
fill out an
application form and submit it along
with the Application Fee of
$1 250.00. The application asks for the Program
Budget as well as the Overall Budget of the Programs
to be accredited.
For Example if ABC Inc. decides to have 4 of its 6
programs accredited, the budget would look like
this:
Organizational Budget: $5 000 000.00
4 Programs to be accredited:
Each Program: $725
000.00
=Total Program Budget: $
2 900 000.00 |
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The Accreditation Fee is based on $2 900
000.00 rather than $5 000 000.00. This would put ABC Inc.'s budget in the range of $2 000 001 - $4 000 000,
costing ABC Inc.
$12 644.00 to accredit the 4 programs.
For a listing of our complete fee schedule, please
click here.
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Once we receive the
Application and the Application Fee, we will send
ABC Inc. a letter by mail with a Timeline Workplan
that outlines the dates for the Pre-Site as well as
the On-Site, the date the Pre-Site documents will be
due and the timeline for invoicing. An email with
the tools that we will use to evaluate the programs
and a Team Memo providing the names of the team
members will be sent two months prior to the
Pre-Site. The accreditation fee is due in two
installments, the first 50% is due within the first
45 days after we receive the Application and the
second 50% is due when ABC Inc. submits its
Pre-Site materials.
At this time ABC Inc. can also book its Free
Half Day session with our CORE Support Staff,
giving a chance to meet with the CORE Support and
ask any questions and learn about the Accreditation
Process.
The Self-Study Process takes place between the
Application and the On-Site (usually 9-12 months).
ABC Inc. takes this time to evaluate their Processes
and Procedures. This time also allows ABC Inc. the opportunity to participate in the
Training Programs offered by CAC or purchase hard
copies of our Standards, both of which are offered
on a cost recovery basis. ABC Inc. can choose not
to purchase these extra services as well.
While ABC Inc. conducts their Self-Study process
with the provided tools, CAC will put together a
Peer Review Team for their Pre-Site and On-Site
review. The team will be made up of trained
volunteers who work in the field with experience in
similar programs as ABC Inc. The number of
reviewers involved and the number of days that the
reviewers are on-site varies depending on the size
of the programs, but there will always be a minimum
of a CORE Support, Team Leader, and one Peer
Reviewer on-site from anywhere between 2 and 5 days.
The cost Per Team Member per Day is $550.00.
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A Team Memo will be sent out to the entire team as well as
the organization, with the Pre-Site and On-Site dates and
expectations approximately two months before the pre-site
date. ABC Inc. is required to provide the Pre-Site
material to each of the Team Members minimally one month
before the Pre-Site date for the team to review. The cost
of the Pre-Site is built into the Accreditation Fee. The
Pre-Site consists of the team conducting a conference call
to discuss the findings of the Self-Study as well the
finalization of the details for the On-Site review.
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For ABC Inc., CAC
would send 1 CORE Support, 1 Team Leader and 2 Peer
Reviewers for 3 days to review their four programs.
The cost for the On-Site would be:
$550 x 4 Team Members x 3 days = $6 600.00
This fee covers the cost of travel and
accommodations for the entire team. An invoice will
be sent out after the On-Site review has been
completed and payment will be required upon receipt
of the organization's response to the On-Site
Report.
If ABC Inc. is granted accreditation after review
of the Accreditation Panel,
that will be the end of their fees. If ABC Inc. is deferred by the
Accreditation Panel, it will cost $550 Per Team
Member per Day for the follow up
On-Site review. The review teams tend to be smaller
for a follow up On-Site and the review takes less
time because the review is more condensed.
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When ABC Inc. is granted accreditation,
they will be sent a certificate and a plaque, and they will
be accredited for the duration decided by the Accreditation
Panel. At this point, the only fee ABC Inc. will have to pay is a $500 Annual Fee,
used to cover administrative costs.
So, at the end of the accreditation process, ABC Inc. has
paid:
Application Fee: $1 250.00
Accreditation Fee: $12 644.00
On-Site Fee: $6 600.00
Equaling: $20 494.00 plus applicable taxes
If you would like to receive a PERSONALIZED ESTIMATE FOR
YOUR ORGANIZATION, please email Amanda at
aellis@cacohs.com. |
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